Iowa 96, Illinois 87 POSTGAME

#101      

Deleted member 649710

D
Guest
Deleted member 649710
(1) All of our players will start next season with a year's more experience, likely stronger after 8 months in the gym, and hopefully with skills refined a bit more. Just that will help quite a bit.

(2) Frazier and Black are players. Ayo is a player. Kipper is a part-time player.

(3) Williams and Smith hopefully will figure it out, and become more consistent contributors. The other guys who got meaningful PT this year can provide value off the bench.

(4) We really need two front court players who can board, protect the rim and occasionally chip in on offense. If we can get that from somewhere -- H.S., transfer market, or growth from current roster -- the complexion of this team looks WAY different.

Honestly, I really think its all about landing a couple quality forwards. Yes, I realize that there are not many left on the H.S. senior market. Go get 'em coaches.
 
#102      

Deleted member 8632

D
Guest
Deleted member 8632
illini80 said:
I wonder what our number of dunks this year was. Has to be one of the lowest in D1. While we had several tonight, it was clear that there are no high flyers who can do it with ease. Only when wide open. Kipper can't take any contact and make it to the rim. Same for Black, Finke, or Ebo. Ebo has the athleticism but not the strength.

I also think that's why we seem to get so few calls. When you look unathletic, it affects the way the refs see it. Just like the more aggressive team usually get the calls.

Iowa was supposed to be a bad defensive team, yet we are so unathletic they can stay with us. That won't happen against Michigan. I expect them to get beaten badly.

It's over and that sucks, but so did most of the last 3 years.
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FIFY
 
#103      

Tacomallini

T
Washington State
Tacomallini
TCTORNADO said:
Nichols shot 86.2% FT's for season. 4th (tied) best FT% in school history. Best season FT% was Brian Cook @ 87.3% in 2002.
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I miss that guy, and was on campus during his playing days. He was a class act too, and I remember him holding the door for me once when I was going into Lincoln Hall.
 
#104      

FiveStar

F
FiveStar
I hope congress bans high capacity magazines so we can’t shoot our selves in the foot so much.
 
#106      

Tacomallini

T
Washington State
Tacomallini
Sizzler22 said:
Illinois basketball ...won't be playing in March.....let that sink in
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Rob and Coach discussed the possibility of one of the other tournaments for this team...anyone see Illinois in the CIT or CBI this year? I know absolutely nothing about either one.
 
#107      

JFGsCoffeeMug

JFGsCoffeeMug
BU:1 Trash cans:0
Chicago
JFGsCoffeeMug
On the one hand, some postseason experience could benefit our players for next year. On the other hand, I really just want to turn the page on this season.

Flip a coin, I guess?
 
#108      

ForWhomTheBellTolls

F
ForWhomTheBellTolls
Tacomallini said:
Rob and Coach discussed the possibility of one of the other tournaments for this team...anyone see Illinois in the CIT or CBI this year? I know absolutely nothing about either one.
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To me, the only thing more embarrassing than the Illini not playing in March would be the Illini playing, with a losing record, in one of these third-tier tournaments this year.
 
#109      

Swamp Donkey

Swamp Donkey
Swamp Donkey
The disparity in fouls is because we cannot defend the post with our tools. Any team that can use an inside game will be nightmare matchups for this team until we get more depth and quality at this position. If Black could play the role of Kenny Battle or a Ken Norman this team could be alright next year. If we don’t get serviceable bigs to compliment Ebo we will really struggle again.
 
#110      

Deleted member 590820

D
Guest
Deleted member 590820
Game should’ve been played at Stony Brook. Thanks Delaney. You turd! When’s the last time Illinois hasn’t played in March? Wild guess, 1923?
 
#111      

bleedsorangenblue

bleedsorangenblue
C-U
bleedsorangenblue
Disappointing season but like the fight in this team and the direction they are heading. This year has really proved to me that we need an infusion of talent to compete in the B1G. The past several years, I felt we had the talent but were not tough, nor cohesive enough. I also felt the coaching sub-par. I may have been wrong. This years team seems to have some of the intangibles I felt were missing in previous years and also feel that the coaching is an upgrade. The talent isn't much different than previous years, yet we have fallen short. Some of this can be chalked up to new players in a new system but we have seen our inability to compete in several areas. BU needs the right players to make his system work. I have trust that he can find them. It may just be a bit more difficult than anticipated.
 
#113      

Oldtoysrock

O
Sarasota, Florida
Oldtoysrock
whatahack said:
It was only two plays but 2 offensive rebounds for Iowa on missed FTs was killer. That just can't happen
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I watched the one where Garza went up over Nichols several times on replay. Call it “out-muscling him”, but Garza just shoved him about 6 feet with his hip and then jumped over his back. Sure looked like a pretty obvious foul given what they were calling on us the rest of the night.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro
 
#114      

Deleted member 631370

D
Guest
Deleted member 631370
PlayAZ said:
Lets break this down as many think we go from what 14 to 18 wins, no transfers, and 2-3? recruits added.

MSU - Will be not nearly as talented next year. Lose Jackson/Bridges
Indiana - Will be better next year, Keep everyone
Ohio State - No way as good...Lose KBD, lacking guards.
Michigan - Tails off with Wagner/Muhammed
Iowa - Will be better
Minnesota - Going wrong way
Northwestern - Going wrong way
Rutgers - Remain the same
Maryland- Will be better than this year (injuries)
Wisconsin- Will be better (Happ stays?)
Nebraska- Gets Better again-going right direction
Penn State-Wont be any better/worse
Minnesota - May not recover for several years
Purdue - Will be just as good, backup big will be far more mobile than Haas.

So in theory we should beat everyone at least 1 time so there is 14 wins plus the non conference...so say we are at 22 wins next year with a reverse in conference record. Doable with a year of Fletcher, Coaching staff, gameplanning, and maturity from the young guys. Right? Right?
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Michigan State will still have Winston, Langford, Nick Ward, etc. And they have 3 top-100 kids coming in next year. They will almost certainly still be better than us.

Michigan is going to be very good. Poole is a star in the making. Matthews is back. Simpson is back. And more importantly, Beilein is a great coach that reloads.

Maryland will be much better -- they bring almost everybody back, and add a really good recruiting class.

I don't think Purdue will be just as good. They lose a LOT of seniors. Vince Edwards, the 10-foot-tall kid, PJ Thompson, and Dakota Matthias. They'll be an NCAA tourney team, though.

Indiana will be much better. Iowa is going to be pretty good -- they bring pretty much everybody back. And Nebraska will be good.

So, I think we're probably in the 7-9 range. Right there with Penn State, Ohio State, and Wisconsin (if Happ returns).
 
#115      

Andy Kaufman

A
Andy Kaufman
After an entire season, the Illini still look confused. Iowa schemed to stop 2 players Black and Frasier and pretty much did. I see energy with no tangible results and so many mental mistakes it make you crazy. I think BU can turn this around but it's going to be a while.
 
#116      

EllderIlliniFan

EllderIlliniFan
EllderIlliniFan
TALKTOCHUCK said:
I can't see us being invited to play an any tournament. We don't have the kind of record those tourneys are seeking. From what I remember most of the small tourneys have small schools with good records with the somewhat exception of the NIT.

That being said,I would watch this team play for the next 7 months without complaints. I love this team even though they were terrible.

One more thing, I know Kipper has good offense. But he himself contributes to so many turnovers either directly or indirectly. He is also super lazy on defense. He certainly scored a ton in the last game but he also left so much on the table. Really frustrating player to watch.
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Two things that would really help next year. Black figures out how to play aggressive without unnecessary fouls. Kipper gets some of Blacks fire in the belly. I can't imagine how tough Kipper would be if someone really made him mad. He has a very passive persona even in the interviews I have seen. Light a fire under him and he would be amazing. I think that was what BU was trying to do early in the season when Kipper did not play much.

(I wouldn't say they were terrible. They had a terrible record)
 
#117      

TCTORNADO

TCTORNADO
TCTORNADO
Alstork in the last 3 games (43 minutes) had 3 points and 1 rebound. I guess we can say that he and BU didn't click. We thought he was such a great 5th year recruiting get and boy was that wrong.
 
#118      

JoeJ

J
JoeJ
PlayAZ said:
Lets break this down as many think we go from what 14 to 18 wins, no transfers, and 2-3? recruits added.

MSU - Will be not nearly as talented next year. Lose Jackson/Bridges
Indiana - Will be better next year, Keep everyone
Ohio State - No way as good...Lose KBD, lacking guards.
Michigan - Tails off with Wagner/Muhammed
Iowa - Will be better
Minnesota - Going wrong way
Northwestern - Going wrong way
Rutgers - Remain the same
Maryland- Will be better than this year (injuries)
Wisconsin- Will be better (Happ stays?)
Nebraska- Gets Better again-going right direction
Penn State-Wont be any better/worse
Minnesota - May not recover for several years
Purdue - Will be just as good, backup big will be far more mobile than Haas.

So in theory we should beat everyone at least 1 time so there is 14 wins plus the non conference...so say we are at 22 wins next year with a reverse in conference record. Doable with a year of Fletcher, Coaching staff, gameplanning, and maturity from the young guys. Right? Right?
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Fletcher may be a great trainer, and he may be better than what other teams have, but he can't teach talent. Every team has trainers, and I don't see Fletch as the answer, (a theme of the board in the Groce era) but you did rightly point out lots of other factors. Need Fletch to teach height.

I will sign up for 22 wins, but tend to be in the believe when I see it camp. Still only Ayo signed. Need frontcourt players.

Sad to realize we are the first team done, but glad it is over. I fear improvements may be slow to be realized. Hopefully we can at least be bubble-esque next year. I like the thought of 22 and hope you are correct.

GO ILLINI!:illinois:
 
#119      

PlayAZ

P
PlayAZ
Andy Kaufman said:
After an entire season, the Illini still look confused. Iowa schemed to stop 2 players Black and Frasier and pretty much did. I see energy with no tangible results and so many mental mistakes it make you crazy. I think BU can turn this around but it's going to be a while.
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The all out "Press Virginia" type of defense is actually pretty good for us, meaning only in the terms of integrating it and getting guys to buy in to actually perform it.

The biggest problem is that we had Frazier, Williams, Smith, Ebo, and ALL the rest "older" players trying to perform a defense in the half court that NONE of them ever had to do in high school/aau/travelling ball?

A year older and learning should intensify the pressure, but also improve the understanding (half court-see ball-over commit, but not allow the back cuts).

I cant imagine what some of these guys felt all year when it seemed the defense was breaking down again and again, even though for the most part they were busting there arse's....Kudo's for the effort, anticipating the improvement and comprehension to pull this off.:chief:
 
#120      

JoeJ

J
JoeJ
the national said:
I think it’s funny how so many people wanna go after coach. Honestly, just like in football, our last coaching staff was inept causing a massive roaster imbalance. Underwood even said it was by choice that the pocketed the last 2 scholarships to help recruiting This offseason. We are feeling the groce effect. I personally blame our moronic (past) and athletic director for absolutely tanking both football and basketball. Underwood did ok given the circumstances. Things looked very grim well before Underwood was hired.
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How do things look now?
 
#122      

DJRichardson4threee

D
IlliniGator2011
Chicago, IL
DJRichardson4threee
On the bright side, at least the coaching staff can get an early start to recruiting. I know there’s not much recruiting that can be done on transfers until they indicate they want to transfer, but maybe for one of the remaining high school players out there.
 
#123      

EyeoftheIllini

EyeoftheIllini
EyeoftheIllini
Disappointing season and tough to watch last night. In fact I kept flipping between game and something else because it was getting depressing. Just hoping BU and staff can bring in some of the pieces we need and the holdover players take a step forward. I'm hopeful, though not sure how optimistic I am. But I'll be back watching and cheering for them next year. Go Illini.
 
#124      

TCTORNADO

TCTORNADO
TCTORNADO
TALKTOCHUCK said:
I feel bad for him. But he was brutal and he never played last night because he passed up a couple 3 pt sits where he was wide open. Complete lack of confidence and horrible way for the kid to end his career. Hope he lands on his feet
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You wonder if he regrets his transfer decision.??
 
#125      

Alfonz24

A
Alfonz24
IllFanInMi said:
I’ve said it before and LB strikes me as the one who could and should move on. He’s a high level talent who could start, or most certainly get starter tick for most of the top programs who have a legitimate shot at making a deep run.

If I were in his shoes it would be very hard for me to stick unless we do land some front court help and have a real shot at dancing.

He’s got ONE year left, has to maximize his post college playing chances and likely wants to play in a damn tournament game. Malcolm Hill anyone?
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I have been having the same thoughts the last several weeks.